World Book Day...love or hate?!

Controversial opinion...I'm not a fan of World Book Day (eek, please don't judge!).

I know, as a teacher this goes against the grain. Let me explain.

I love books, I'm an avid reader and I really enjoy reading and sharing books with my students and my own children. I think World Book Day is a fantastic idea and I know primary schools do incredible things (which takes weeks/months of planning) to create a magical day for the children. This is over and above the planning that teachers already do and so organising whole school events and a carousel of activities related to a specific theme for all year groups is both challenging and rewarding. It's not something I miss though and I'm in awe of all the teachers today who are doing it.

However, the real reason I don't like World Book Day is the dressing up - I'm one of those people whose heart sinks when invited to a fancy dress party. Now, I love to get my creative juices flowing but, for some reason, I find it hard to think of and put a costume together. As a teacher I spent nearly twenty years dressing up for World Book Day and the fear would start at the beginning of February. I have dressed up as many different characters in my time, a cowboy, eco superhero, a witch, a pirate, a spider - the last three more notable because I was quite pregnant at the time! I also had to attend a serious meeting about Teacher Pensions wearing a princess costume. Not to mention trying to locate all the costume props that had been lost by my pupils during the day and get them back to their rightful owners. Whose wand is this?! After I had my children, I had to think of costumes for all three of them plus a costume for me.

I also wonder whether dressing up actually helps children to develop a love of books - of course I could be wrong here. Often children dress up as a film character that never made it into a book in the first place. I just feel there are better ways to do it that don't put so much pressure on teachers, schools and parents. Having said that, now that I don't teach in school, I did enjoy seeing all the children walking to school this morning dressed in their fineries. It's interesting to see what's popular, although Harry Potter is an enduring choice. The school my children attend, thankfully, only dress up every three years - a much better compromise and I can deal with that. Just.

What are your thoughts on World Book Day?

Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash